Intensive Virginia Division of Natural Heritage, see http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural_heritage/documents/nh_plotform_instructions.pdf
Overall Taxon Cover Values are Automatically Calculated?
no
Stem Observation Area
1000
m²
Plot Quality Fields:
Plot Validation Level
(2) classification plot: sufficient for inclusion in a classification revision
Overall Plot Vegetation Fields:
Tree Height
30
m
Shrub Height
4
m
Field Height
3
m
Tree Cover
70
%
Shrub Cover
25
%
Field Cover
40
%
Misc Fields:
Observation Narrative
This somewhat disturbed stand does not represent the lush floodplain vegetation dominated by Quercus pagoda which I had recalled from my initial visit. Seedlings of Toxicodendron radicans up to 70 cm abound. Bent Carex culms with dried mud at the base suggest fairly recent flooding; adjacent sloughs contains at least 0.5 m of standing water. The understory is variably open and contains patches of Carpinus caroliniana, Ilex spp., and Acer negundo, all draped with Toxicodendron and other vines. Smilax rotundifolia forms sprawling clumps < 1 m tall. Although the canopy is intact with no evidence of recent disturbance, most boles are not straight. Coarse woody debris consists primarily of small branches, larger downed boles, and old tip-up mounds. The ground surface is uneven; deposition may be influenced by herb-layer vegetation, or there may have been variable subsidence. Scattered pits in plot (ca. 20 cm deep) may represent former tip-up features. Corners of modules 6 and 10 lie under water in sloughs.
Quercus michauxii (ca. 40 cm dbh and 20 m tall; bole and lowest branch flagged) located just outside plot near stake A.
0 - 1 - leaf litter, with a very thin veneer of darker clay
1 - 27 medium brown, very slightly sandy clay loam, abounding in fine roots in upper 10 cm
27 - water table; beneath soil is somewhat gleyed and generally lighter, but with patches of darker or
